Genesis 22
Likely, the most well-known incident in the life of Isaac is that occasion when the Lord asked Abraham to take his beloved son to a mountain in the land of Moriah and there offer him for a burnt offering. The Lord had said to Abraham, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering” (Gen 22:2).1
Isaac was not Abraham’s only son, but he was the only son that was born as a result of God’s promise. Isaac was also the son through whom God would confirm and fulfil His promises to Abraham. Isaac was unique, distinct and separate. The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews wrote concerning the Lord Jesus, “[He] is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners” (Heb 7:26).
Note that the Lord said that the place where Abraham was to offer his son was to be “upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of” (Gen 22:2). The place where the Lord Jesus would offer Himself as a sacrifice for sin, Calvary’s mountain, was planned in the mind of God before the foundation of the world. Every minute detail was divinely planned and divinely fulfilled.
The Lord constantly reminded the people of Israel that they were not to offer their sacrifices in every place but in the place of His choosing: “But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee” (Deu 12:14).
It is interesting to note as well that the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews referred to Abraham’s offering up of Isaac in these words: “He that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son” (Heb 11:17). The Lord Jesus is the only other person who is referred to as the only begotten Son.
How wonderful, then, to read on the pages of the sacred Scriptures, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Joh 3:16). The apostle Paul reminds us in the book of Romans concerning God’s giving of His only begotten Son: He “spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all” (Rom 8:32).
Abraham, in willing obedience and in complete trust in his God, bound his son Isaac upon the altar which he had made. Isaac, seeing the fire and the wood, asked, “Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (Gen 22:7). Abraham’s reply, “My son, God will provide himself a lamb” (v8), was prophetic in nature, pointing to the Lord Jesus and His sacrifice as the Lamb of God’s providing.
But just as he was about to plunge the knife into his son, the angel of the Lord called to him out of heaven and told him not to slay his son, because the Lord had recognized the extent of his willing obedience and confidence in the Lord’s plans, purposes and promises.
When Abraham looked up, he saw a ram caught in a thicket, which he offered in the stead of his son Isaac. It must be noted here that when Abraham responded to Isaac’s question regarding the lamb for a burnt offering, he had no knowledge of the ram in the thicket. His statement was purely prophetic in view of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God who would bear away the sin of the world (Joh 1:29).
A number of suggestions have been put forward by various individuals concerning this story and what it might represent in picture and type. Some see Isaac as a picture of the sinner, bound, with the wood representing the burden of sin. The knife raised would picture the judgment of God, ready to fall. The ram in the thicket in this case would picture the Lord Jesus taking the place of the sinner.
Others see Isaac as a picture of the Lord Jesus, the willing sacrifice. The words of Isaiah, written prophetically concerning the Lord Jesus, come to mind: “He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth” (Isa 53:7).
In the phrase “they went both of them together” (Gen 22:8), we think of the words of the Lord Jesus just prior to going to the cross: “Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me” (Joh 16:32).
Again, the wood represents the sin of the world and the knife the judgment of God. But here, the picture falls short, for there was none to take the Saviour’s place. He alone would bear the judgement of God on account of sin. Peter wrote, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree” (1Pe 2:24).
Lastly, we can also see in this amazing story a picture of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus out from amongst the dead. When Abraham freed his son from the altar, he received him as alive from the dead, and thus he became a type of the Lord Jesus in resurrection. The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews wrote about Abraham’s faith in offering up his only son: “Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure” (Heb 11:17-19).
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV.
